Blues man Corey Harris -- who's spent a lot of time in Charlottesville over the years -- issued "Mississippi to Mali" on the Rounder label last week. The disc features songs inspired by the great American country bluesmen as well by Harris' African musical heroes.

Speaking of Charlottesville, an obscure rock combo from Wahoo City called Dave Matthews Band just released "The Central Park Concert" a three-CD set also available on DVD. Plenty of Virginians will be unwrapping these on the morning of Dec. 25. Buy one for the Dave-head in your life.

Rap music fiends have a lot to crave these days. Timbaland & Magoo recently dropped "Under Construction Part II." While overshadowed by the Neptunes, Timbaland remains one of the most influential producers in modern R&B. His old friend and creative partner Missy Elliott returned this week with the CD "This is Not a Test!" It includes the Timbaland-produced tune "Pass That Dutch," which is already a hit.

Looking ahead, the Virginia Beach rap duo Clipse is set to release a CD "Hell Hath No Fury" on Dec. 16 on the Arista label. It's the followup to the group's hit "Lord Willin' " CD from 2002.

Stepping away from Virginia-centric music for just a moment, They Might Be Giants recently brought forth the deluxe DVD version of "Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)." The set -- according to ICE magazine -- includes gobs of bonus footage. The extras include a 1990 appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson in 1990 and interviews with Conan O'Brien, Frank Black, Yo La Tengo's Ira Glass and, as they say, much, much more.

RETURN OF THE NATIVE? Recording engineer and Newport News native Scott Gordon has built an impressive music-biz resume. The Los Angeles- area resident has recorded with stars including Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, David Crosby, Hanson, Ringo Starr, Robbie Krieger of The Doors, and Alanis Morissette. He helped record at least one tune burned into the national consciousness: "Who Let The Dogs Out?" by Baha Men.

Not bad for a boy who grew up in Hilton.

After 15 years in L.A., Gordon is thinking of moving back to Virginia.

His parents still live in the area. So he returns once or twice a year to see them. "It seems like such a nice place to live, there's so much water around, the people are really friendly," Gordon said. "I've been telling my wife for five years that we should consider moving back."

And yet he's not ready to give up on the music business. Gordon wonders whether the area's pool of musicians is deep enough for him to set up shop here. He'd like to gather a team of players and songwriters who would form something like Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, the loosely organized musical collective that laid the groundwork for Crow's multi-platinum debut album. "It would be fun to get something like that together," Gordon said during a recent visit to Williamsburg. "Maybe something like that is possible here."

To contact Gordon, e-mail him at scottegordon@ mindspring.com.

QUICK CHECKS. Saturday's concert featuring Third Eye Blind and Billy Talent will mark The NorVa's 500th show. It's safe to say that the downtown Norfolk ballroom is the region's premier live music room. Long may it rock. ... Fuzzy Wednesdays at Mitty's in Newport News will be broadcast live on the radio starting next week. The open-mike session, hosted by the very funky Fuzz Band, will be the focus of a live remote from 7 p.m. to midnight Wednesday on WSVY-FM (105.3). Open-mike talent will get the chance to perform on the air between 11 p.m. and midnight, organizers said. For more information, visit www.thefuzzband .com or call 531-1669.

* Sam McDonald can be reached at 247-4732 or by e-mail at smcdonald@ dailypress.com.